yeah, id say that qualifies as a "big block" conversion ! before i get into that, theres a blurb along with a pic below regarding the original truck.
This is my recently acquired (7/14/01) Tamiya QD (quick drive) Clodbuster. The chassis is marked 1989, the body is marked 1991 - perhaps this isnt the original body? who knows.....anyway, its intended to run on 8 AA cells, but i just wired in a regular Tamiya battery connector and run it from a 6 cell sub-c pack that i place in the truck bed. As u can see, the previous owner used some markers on the body and wheels, leaving them looking less than pristine - guess he hasn't heard of paint, lol. In an attempt to glue the rear tires to the wheels, the sidewall on one of the tires developed a tear, so the rear tires are from a Radio Shack "intruder/hot machine". This Tamiya truck and the RS (radio shack) truck are very similar in design , but the Tamiya is much older, so if anybody is guilty of "cloning", its the company that supplies RS ! lol :-P No parts on the trucks appear identical, just similar. The main differences are that the Tamiya is 2wd, with a 2xx motor, and digital proportional steering/throttle. The RS truck is 4wd, has a 360 motor, and "one-step" steering/throttle. I wish the Tamiya truck also had 4wd and the 360 motor - or better yet, a 540 motor, lol. I didnt get a transmitter with this, so i am using a Traxxas transmitter. I had to open the transmitter and reverse the channels. I dont mean "servo reversing" ( this controller has that feature), which is just switching the "left turn" command for the "right turn" or vice-versa, or the throttle for brake/reverse or vice-versa. The steering wheel on the transmitter was controlling the throttle, and the trigger was controlling the steering - so i just swapped the wires running from the variable resistors - problem solved. On a "hobby class" receiver, one would just swap the servo/esc from ch1 to ch2 or vice-versa, but since this truck uses "integrated" electronics, i had to make the adjustment to the transmitter - but it was well worth the hassle -Ive only had this thing a little over a day, and ive already grown attached to it - tons of fun - wheelies for days - in both "low" and "high" gear. Plus its kinda charming to see the truck lean during corners - and the "baby" clodbuster body doesnt hurt its appeal ;-)
BIG BLOCK
i thought it would be fun to cram a a 540 motor into this little truck, so i replaced the stock tranny, which used a 280 motor, with the tranny from a nikko buggy which used a 540. rear wheels were a problem, as the stock rear wheels used a metal hex, where as the nikko tranny used a "5 spoke " hub - so i had to use the nikko buggy wheels. but since they werent wide enough for the tires i wanted to use, i grabbed some other buggy wheels that had the same 5 hole pattern in them, and used 5 bolts/locknuts per wheel to bolt the 2 together to create wheels wide enough for the tires. i might later remove the bolts and bond the 2 parts together using epoxy - 10 bolts/locknuts are alot of weight to be on the chassis, lol, but for that weight to be on the wheels, spinning, is much, much worst - performance wise. but since this isnt a racer, why worry about it? hahaha
because of the low mounting position of the battery, the "center of gravity" is low enough that its near impossible to roll this thing - planted like pancar! - lol, yet still leans very charmingly in the corners. it doesnt lean as much as it did before the conversion, due to my removal of the rear suspension. if u look in the pic showing the bottom of the truck, u can see 2 screws that were put through the pivot point of the rear axle. i did this mainly because, after i had hacked up the chassis to fit the much larger tranny, the stock mounting area for the rear shocks was weakened - i felt it would probably snap off under load, so i just locked it.
specs.......its running a Johnson 540 motor - not sure how many turns it is, but just from looking in the can, i can see its got alot less turns than my 45t mabuchi 540s, perhaps its closer to my 20t mabuchi 540s. a Tekin Rebel esc (removed from my second 6x6, named "big brother") and using the stock servo. how'd i pull off using a "toy" servo with a "hobby" receiver? lol, ill save that rant for an email - so if u really need to know....email me ! :-) hehehe
a major goal with this conversion was keeping the wheelbase close to stock, so that the body fit the truck - the wheelbase is a lil over 7 inches - i didnt measure its stock wheelbase, but visually it fits - im pleased with the result. the rear is slightly wider than the front, but that just aids in stability, lol. im also pleased with its speed, and handling. its not going to set any speed records, but its as fast as any other similar buggy or small truck runnin that same motor - and that Rebel will handle 10cells, so who's got beef?! lol . offroad, it wont soak up bumps like a T3 or xxxt, but thats not what this guy is about - its all about watching the solid axle axle bob around and lean left to right - its just too cool ! even when the pack is about dead, i get a kick out of watching it.......the simple pleasures......lol. and of course, the wheelies are fun too - gotta love the wheelies - but because of the low battery mounting, it doesnt wheelie from a standstill - but it does when i move the battery pack to the truck bed. i bet it will pull one from a standstill, regardless of where i mount the battery, if i use a 10cell pack, so its all gravy :-)
as i bid u farewell, see how that chrome "twankles and glissens", lol
If u email me, and please feel free to do so, include a reference to RC or this site in the "SUBJECT". i get alot of spam, so if i see a strange email address with no subject, or a subject that says "hi" or "hello", etc, im not going to read it - so u need to say something in the subject that makes it clear to me that your message isnt spam. ndumu@hotmail.com